Forging control



y 1962 w. A. EHLERT I 3,033,063

FORGING CONTROL Filed Nov. 14, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. w/L LIAM A.f//LRT ATTORNEY-5.

May 8, 1962 w. A. EHLERT 3,033,063

FORGING CONTROL Filed Nov. 14, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 N INVENTOR. & MAL/AM A. EHLERT BY a? 5 vim ATTOZ? May-.5.

May 8, 1962 w. A. EHLERT 3,033,063

FORGING CONTROL Filed Nov. 14, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 O a h 4, INVENTOR.

WILL/AM A EHLERT 4 T TORA/E Y5 May 8, 1962 w. A. EHLERT 3,033,063

FORGING CONTROL Filed Nov. 14, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

WILLIAM A. EHLEIZT BY Mam ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,033,063 FORGING CONTROL William A. Ehlert, South Euclid, Ohio, assignor to The Ajax Manufacturing Company, Euclid, Ohio, :1 corporation of Ohio Filed Nov. 14, 1955, Ser. No. 546,656 2 Claims. (Cl. 80-26) This invention relates as indicated to a novel forging machine control, and more particularly to a device for automatically tripping roll forging machines and the like when the stock has been properly positioned therein.

Roll forging machines are commonly used in the forging of axles and the like, and include two opposed rolls having dies thereon adapted to cooperate in the forging of a heated metal blank. Such machines utilize a large power driven flywheel and clutch and brake mechanism operated in timed sequence to drive such rolls through a single cycle of operation when actuated. In many such machines the brake may be released and the clutch engaged through manual operation of a control valve, a timer or other non-repeat mechanism being provided automatically to disengage the clutch and apply the brake to stop rotation of the rolls at the end of one cycle of revolution. It is, however, highly desirable, in order to obtain uniform forgings, that means be provided for automatically initiating actuation of the machine when the blank has been properly positioned therein, thereby eliminating variations which arise when the actuation of the machine depends entirely upon the individual judgment of the operator. Moreover, by providing such automatic control means, the forging operation may be considerably accelerated, less care being required on the part of the operator and the machine being immediately actuated as soon as the work-piece is in proper position.

Devices have been proposed for this general purpose wherein the control means is actuated or tripped by engagement by the blank itself when the latter is introduced into the machine. Such devices have suffered from several serious defects principally arising from the lack of uniformity in such blanks. Thus, one blank may be cut slightly longer than another blank, although supposedly of the same dimensions, or one blank may have been heated to a somewhat higher temperature than another blank, thereby relatively elongating the same. Usually the most important part of the blank where uniformity is desired is the shoulder produced by the forging dies toward the tong-held end of the blank. Due to the rolling action of the dies, when the blank is reduced or necked thereby, the end portion of the blank away from the tongs gripping the same will be considerably lengthened. This introduces another source of non-uniformity.

when the blank itself is utilized to trip the machine and a number of passes are involved. Thus, when the stock is transferred to the next succeeding pass, it will have become relatively elongated and the control means must be designed to compensate for this fact. Since the degree of elongation is never exactly uniform, however, it is readily apparent that the partially forged blank will not be reliably located relative to the next pair of forging dies when the control means actuating the machine is tripped.

It is accordingly a principal object of my invention to provide a forging machine control adapted automatically to actuate the machine when a blank has been properly positioned therein.

A further object is to provide such control whereby exact register of the blank may be quickly obtained in each succeeding pass while at the same time actuating the drive mechanism without loss of time.

Another object is to provide such control means which will not require any especial skill in its use or adjustment from one pass to the next.

A further object is to provide such control means which is adapted to be actuated by the tongs gripping the blank.

Still another object is to provide such control means which is adapted to be installed on conventional roll forging machines already in use.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

' FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a typical roll forging machine having my new control means installed thereon;

1 FIG. 2 is a vertical section through the rolls and dies of such machine illustrating the manner in which the stock is adapted to be positioned therebetween;

PEG. 3 is a semi-diagrammatic plan of a generally conventional fluid pressure system for actuating the clutch and brake of the machine;

FIG. 3a is a diagrammatic illustration of such system in the complete operative combination of the machine;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section through the rolls and stock control means of a forging machine employing another modification of my invention;

FIG. 4A is a fragmentary top plan view of the stock control means shown in FIG. 4 with the tongs and stock removed for clarity of illustration; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the tong support and control means of FIG. 4.

Referring now more particularly to said drawing, the usual roll forging machine may comprise two massive main side frame members 1 and 2 having vertically reciprocable slide members 3 and 4 mounted therein. An upper forging roll 5 is journalled in said slide members and an opposed lower forging roll 6 is journalled in the main frame members 1 and 2 therebelow. Such upper and lower forging rolls carry forging die members 7 and 8 respectively. Conventional drive means including a large flywheel, brake and clutch may be provided for driving such rolls in synchronism.

Slide 4 is supported by vertical adjusting screws 9 and 10 and is held down by nuts 11, 12, 13 and 14 threaded on the upper ends of vertical posts 15 and 16. Slide 3 is similarly supported. Tie rods 17 and 18 and spacers 19 and 20 connect the upper portions of side frame members 1 and 2 which are also joined at their bases, not shown.

As best shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing, I provide a tong rest, in this instance for four passes, comprising a support 21 bridging main side frame members 1 and 2 at the front of the machine and carrying tong rests 22, 23, 24 and 25 thereon having longitudinally extending -grooves such as 26 therein. The usual tongs comprising a pair of elongated handles 27 and 28 pivotally connected at 29 includes work-gripping jaws 30 and 3-1 having square shoulders 32 adapted to rest in such grooves 26 so that the tongs may be slid therealong to insert the heated blank B in proper position between the forging rolls 5 and 6.

Support 21 also carries a transversely extending stop member 33, and openings 34 are provided in theends of the grooves in the tong rests adjacent such stop member so that the upper ends of pivotally mounted trigger levers Patented May 8, 1962 35, 36, 37 and 38 may protrude therethrough as shown in FIGS, 1 and 2. Inasmuch as each of these triggers is similarly connected with rock shaft 39 journalled in supporting frame 2.1, only the mechanism thus associated with trigger lever 38 and illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described in detail. The lower end of lever 38 engages an adjustable stop 40 threadedly adjustably mounted on axially reciprocable rod 41 slidably mounted in transversely extending portions 42 and 43 of support 21. A compression spring 44 is interposed between transverse portion 43 and nut 45 on rod 41 tending to urge such rod to the left as viewed in FIG. 2. The degree of reciprocation of such rod in this direction is limited by pivotal movement of the upper end of trigger lever 38. Spring 44, however, need not be unduly strong and need only afford a limited degree of reciprocation to rod 41. The outer end of such rod engages the upper end of lever 46 mounted on rock shaft 39 for oscillation therewith, and the right-hand end of such rock shaft 39 as viewed in FIG. 1 carries a downwardly extending lever 47 likewise secured thereto for oscillation therewith. The end of lever 4-7 engages the plunger of pilot valve 48, and it will accordingly be seen that when the shoulder 32 of the tongs engages the upper end of trigger lever 38 to rock the latter against stop 33 lever 47 will be rocked to reciprocate the plunger of valve 48 to admit air under pressure from supply line 49 to line 50.

Since each of the trigger levers 35, 36 and 37 is similarly arranged to oscillate rock shaft 39 in the same manner when engaged by the shoulder of the tongs, pilot valve 48 will be actuated as indicated, causing the one cycle drive mechanism of the forging machine to operate. Line 50 leads from pilot valve 48 to control valve 51 (see FIGS. 3 and 3a) which may be of the general type disclosed in Patent No. 2,496,040 to W. W. Criley, for example. Air pressure from line 50 serves to reciprocate the valve member of control valve 51 to admit air under pressure to line 52 and to rock lever 53 to move cam follower roller 54 on the end thereof away from the peripheral surface of cam 55 driven with main drive shaft 56 of the machine. The air under pressure thus admitted to line 52 serves to reciprocate the piston of piston-cylinder assembly 57 to release brake 58 mounted on a high speed drive shaft 5611. Continued movement of the valve member of control valve 51 thereupon also admits air under pressure from the main supply line to conduit 59 leading to an air actuated clutch 60, likewise on the high speed shaft. As will appear from FIG. 3a, such shaft 56a is geared to the main shaft 56 and extends through the clutch 60 to a flywheel F driven by a motor M. Upon such release of the brake and actuation of the clutch, the main shaft is thus driven to rotate forging rolls and 6, the latter being shown on the shaft 56 and the former geared to such shaft for operation in synchronism. The rolls are rotated in the directions indicated by the arrows on FIG. 2 to engage the blank B and reduce the latter in a region intermediate its ends. The rolling action of the dies 7 and 8 also serves to move the blank to the right as viewed in FIG. 2, with the operator still gripping the tong handles 27 and 28. Shoulder 32 of the tongs is thus moved out of engagement with the upstanding end of the corresponding trigger lever so that spring-returned pilot valve 48 is permitted to close the connection to line 49 and to connect line 50 with exhaust line 61. By thus relieving the pressure in line 50, spring return control valve 51 is likewise urged to return to starting position as shown in FIG. 3. At this stage of the cycle, however, cam 55 will have turned to engage cam roller 54 temporarily preventing rocking of lever 53 until one cycle of the machine has been completed. When cam 55 has turned far enough to permit lever 53 to rock back to initial position, clutch 60 is first disengaged and brake 58 then applied, stopping the rotation of rolls 5 and 6. The clutch and brake means briefly described above are, of course, well-known, such elements and their operative connection in the machine 4 likewise being shown in the forementioned Patent No. 2,496,040. My invention relates particularly to the associated control means for automatically actuating the same whenthe operator has properly positioned the blank between the forging rolls.

When there are a number of passes as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing, the operator will now shift or roll the tongs into the next V-groove and will slide the shoulder 32 therealong until it engages the next trigger lever 36 whereupon the machine will again be automatically actuated as described. Of course, the end of the blank B will be properly seated and gripped between the jaws 30 and 31 of the tongs so that the relationship between the blank and tongs shoulder 32 remains unchanged from one pass to the next. In view of the direction of rotation of the forging rolls, the distance between the end of the blank gripped by the tongs and the near shoulder of the reduced portion of the blank as necked by dies 7 and 8 will likewise remain substantially unchanged from pass to pass, whereas the remainder of the blank extending from such reduced portion to the other end of the blank will be progressively lengthened in each operation. It will be seen that no especial skill is required of the operator in obtaining high speed production coupled with the necessary accuracy in registering the successive forging operations. Such high speed operation is desirable not only to secure maximum productivity of the machine but also to avoid undue cooling of the heated blank between the successive forging operations.

If desired, as when but a single roll forging operation is required prior to a hammer forging operation for example, the rolls may be driven in opposite directions to those indicated (or the control means located at the other side of the machine) so that when the machine has been actuated by the shoulder of the tongs in the manner described, the forged blank will be ejected from the machine in the direction away from the tongs, being released by the latter, whereupon another operator may pick up the roll forged blank for immediate transfer to the forging hammer or other machine.

It will be seen that a machine constructed in accordance with my invention combines a safety feature, in that such machine cannot be started until the blank has been properly positioned, with high speed operation in view of the fact that the machine is automatically actuated the moment the blank is in proper position to be forged. While square shouldered tongs have been illustrated, it will also be apparent that variously modified forms of shoulders may be utilized as desired. While the use of tongs and associated stops has been known in the past for the purpose of registering work-pieces, I am not aware of any prior roll forging machine or the like Where such registering action of the tongs serves simultaneously to actuate the machine itself.

Mechanism of the type described is particularly adapted for use with roll forging machines of the general type disclosed in Criley Patent 2,130,069, for example, but may also be employed with other types of forging machines.

Referring now to the modification illustrated in FIGS. 4, 4A and 5 of the drawing, the forging machine as above described will include an upper forging roll 62 and an opposed lower forging roll 63 adapted to have forging die members mounted thereon. The conventional drive means including a large flywheel, brake and clutch may be provided as before for driving such rolls in synchronism.

The tong rest ordinarily designed for a plurality of roll passes comprises a supporting table 64 adapted to bridge between the main side frame members of the machine and carrying a plurality of tong rests such as 65, 66 and 67 having longitudinally extending V-grooves such as 68 in their upper surfaces. Such grooves are aligned with the corresponding passes of the forging rolls. The usual tongs comprising a pair of elongated handles 69 and 70 pivotally connected at 71 includes work gripping jaws 72 and 73 having square shoulders 74 adapted t rest in such V-grooves 68 so that the tongs may be slid therealong to insert the heated blank B in proper position between the forging rolls 62 and 63. Due to the size and shape of the tong shoulders, the operator may simply roll the tongs from one V-groove to the next to align the work with successive passes.

The tong rests such as 65, 66 and 67 are individually mounted on table 64 for adjustment toward and away from the forging rolls, their position being determined by adjusting screws 75, the rests being secured in adjusted position by means of screws 76 extending through slots 77 in the table. In FIG. 4, the lower shoulder of the tong is shown abutting the forward stop 78 of the tong rest, this determining the longitudinal position of blank B relative to the forging roll dies of the corresponding pass.

A lower bridge 79 supports a plurality of slides such as 80 adapted to be adjustably positioned and locked in place by screws 81 extending through slots 82. Pivotally mounted at 83 on each such slide is a lever having an upper end 84 projecting through an opening in table 64 and a corresponding opening in the tong rest to an extent permitting engagement thereof by the shoulder of the tong as it is slid forward in groove 68. The normal position of such lever end is shown in dotted line in FIG. 4. The lower end 85 of each such lever straddles a horizontal rod 86 mounted in the downwardly extending flange of table 64 and in downturned flange 87 of bridge 79 for axial reciprocation. A compression spring 88 encircles rod 86 and is interposed between flange 87 and adjusting nuts 89, serving normally to shift rod 86 to the left as viewed in FIG. 4 to the extent permitted by stop 90. The lower end 85 of the aforesaid lever engages nuts 91 adjustably threaded on rod 86 but normally exerts no pressure thereagainst when the upper end 84 of such lever is in the indicated dotted line position. When, however, the tong is slid along V-groove 68 until it engages stop 78, it is apparent that the shoulder of such tong will first engage the upper end 84 of the lever and rock the same in the manner shown in FIG. 4 to reciprocate rod 86 t the right. The right-hand end of each rod 86 engages a corresponding lever arm 92 keyed to a rock shaft 93. A depending lever arm 94 is keyed to one end of such shaft to actuate the fluid pressure control means in the same manner as lever 47 described above.

Bridge or table 64 is supported on the main side frame members of the press such as 95 by means of brackets such as 96 having vertically extending slots 97 through which the attaching bolts 98 and 99 extend. It is accordingly possible to adjust the entire tong rest assembly vertically as may be desired.

Inasmuch as the upper end 84 of the trigger lever is adapted to be retracted into the slot or clearance in the stop face, it is apparent that such stop will itself absorb all the shock of impact of the tong. Moreover, the nut engaged by the other end of such lever may be adjusted so that the control means will be actuated only by rocking of the lever to bring its upper end substantially flush with the tong engaging stop face.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my prior co-pending application Serial No. 356,950 filed May 25, 1953, and of my prior co-pending application Serial No.

456,575 filed September 16, 1954, both such prior applications having now been abandoned in favor of this application.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims of the equivalent of such be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. In a roll forging machine including a guideway along which tongs are moved to position a blank gripped thereby for working in the machine, and a stop for limiting such advance of the tongs; control means for initiating operation of the machine, rockably mounted lever means projecting into the guideway proximate to such stop for engagement and actuation by the tongs, the stop being provided with a recess for retraction of the lever means therein, resilient means holding the lever means normally in such projecting disposition, and means connecting the lever means with the control means for actuation of the latter upon rocking of the former, whereby the control means initiates operation of the machine auto matically in response to final positioning of the tongs in the guideway.

2. In combination a rolling mill comprising a pair of cooperating gap rolls, control means to turn said rolls one revolution and stop the roll rotation at the end of each revolution, a horizontally disposed blank feeding table mounted on the mill in alignment with said rolls with one edge of the table terminating at the juncture between the rolls, said table having a horizontally continuous groove to guide a blank being advanced to the rolls by the operator along a horizontal path normal to the vertical plane of the roll axes, a movable trip projecting upwardly with respect .to the blank feeding table operatively connected to said control means, said trip being disposed in the bottom of said groove and being normally urged upwardly into said groove, tong means to grip the end of a blank :to be rolled and transfer the blank to the groove in said blank feeding table, said tong means having a generally square lug fixed thereto and proportioned so that one corner of the lug projects downwardly therefrom into the groove with the blank in feeding position whereby said lug corner engages said trip as the blank is being advanced by the operator into position to be rolled and said trip is moved by the corner of the lug on the tong means to actuate said control means and set the rolls in motion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,123,460 Adams Jan. 5, 1915 1,293,836 McGrath Feb. 11, 1919 1,708,440 Car-hart Apr. 9, 1929 1,733,936 Boughton Oct. 29, 1929 1,791,187 Brauchler Feb. 3, 1931 2,136,023 Russell Nov. 8, 1938 2,377,032 Osborn May 29, 1945 2,439,323 Tuttle Apr. 6, 1948 2,511,506 Hruby June 13, 1950 2,615,355 Friedman Oct. 28, 1952 

